No Place Like Home

Just 4 kiDDS

2009-09-30T16:10:00.000-07:00

Jordan's office has been open about two and a half weeks now. Jordan loves having his own office and doing things his own way. He says all the stress is worth it, so I guess the last ten years are slowly proving themselves. We've had great responses from our patients and literally everyone who comes through the door loves the office. Here are a few pictures of the office; the picture of the building with the sign is too big for me to upload, but you can see it if you check out the website: www.just4kiddsdentistry.com

Here's the sign just off the road.Front Desk (Jordan hates the sign- the colors were supposed to be solid, but instead they're almost see through so the lights reflect and it's hard to read. Chances are it will be different before too long!)

The CARS collection. Jordan and the boys have spent the last 2-3 years collecting all the cars from the CARS movie. Last count there were just over 120 (not counting doubles). There are no repeats in the case-each one is somehow different and from a different scene in the movie. Kids love this display.

The movie theater has been great for families with multiple children. No one minds waiting for his/her turn. My brother-in-law custom made the train table and race car track (as well as the display cases and wii cabinet). I love that the train table isn't a typical rectangle. So far, moms love being able to fill out paperwork without keeping their kids entertained- we do it all for them. The arcade center has proven to be loved by dads just as much as kids.

Open bay hygiene areas make it easier for mom's with two kids back at the same time to be with both kids. They also lend for great teaching models (nervous kids see there's nothing to be nervous about from other well behaved kids) We use benches instead of regular dental chairs to eliminate the startle factor from the chair reclining.
After a child is all done, he/she gets to pick a prize from the "concession stand" while mom takes care of the check out. (The soda and popcorn are just props- they do not work and we will not let a patient-or parent-have any popcorn while in the waiting room or before they leave. No matter how many times mom or dad ask.)
And while we've been slaving away getting Jordan's office up and going, the boys have been hard at work in the mud. Many hours were spent in the back yard this summer creating rivers, islands, waterfalls, and lakes. Good thing Idaho mud isn't like the mutant mud of NY. No clothing was completely ruined.
And our most favorite part of the summer- The SnoShack. We went almost everyday, except our last day when we went twice. We are snow cone snobs; I'd rather have no snow cone than eat a bad snow cone. The SnoShack is the only place I (and now my boys) will eat a snow cone from. Lucky for us there are about 3 in Idaho Falls and one just down the road in Shelley. There weren't many things I was excited to come back to Idaho for-but the SnoShack was one of them. And yes, that is our new (to us) mini-van in the picture. We have to have two cars here and even though I feel pretty old school next to all the SUV mama's,we like how much storage space it has. So gas guzzling aside, it's a good car. The boys love having a tv in the car and Jordan loves that they can't kick our seats anymore. So in a nutshell, that's where we've been the past few months.

Return to Our Roots

2009-07-29T22:19:00.000-07:00

It's so very late, and I should so be in bed, but blogger is calling me... We've been home for just about three and a half weeks now. The boys love all the Grandmas, Grandpas, aunts, uncles, cousins, and friends from the past. They're learning to climb trees, create rivers, islands, and lakes in the back garden with the hose, drink out of the hose, mow the lawn (they just watch that), and they're generally living life in the country. We experience one or two major melt downs a day, but we're all adjusting pretty well. Jordan is loving working for a real pay check, and his own office is getting closer everyday. I'll post some pictures of our new life when my bed and blogger aren't fighting over me; but for now, the bed wins.

Where One Journey Ends, a New One Begins...

2009-06-30T11:03:00.000-07:00

Today is our last day in Rochester. The moving truck pulled out yesterday, Grandma and Grandpa Higham flew out with the boys yesterday, and today I turned in our apartment keys. Tears fall freely the last few days, and I'm not even trying to stop them. I am so sad to leave behind this part of our lives; we have been blessed with so many wonderful experiences and friendships in the past six years. I knew two years ago this day would come and we would once again have to pick up and move; leaving behind so many friends- some of the closest we've ever made- but that never makes it any easier. It's been a great journey and we have all grown in ways we never imagined. I am thankful for the times we've had and lessons we've learned. Just as a part of us will always be in Seattle, now a part of us will always be in Rochester as well.
As soon as Jordan finishes work today (he graduated last Friday, but had to work yesterday and today- silly I know!) we too will head out to begin our new journey. We look forward to our new lives in South Eastern Idaho. Jordan and the boys are so very excited to live there and I'm working on it. I don't deny that it will be nice to live by family; I know that we are supposed to come home. Sometimes change comes hard for me though. I am excited for the road trip Jordan and I are about to take- across the nation with no children! It was a blast two years ago when we came out here, and I expect no less on the way back. We hope to arrive in Idaho early next week refreshed and ready to jump into the next journey. So here's an advance thanks to all our family who will be taking care of the boys for this next week- THANK YOU!

Garbage Plate

2009-06-16T03:10:00.000-07:00

The name alone makes you wonder. It took me almost 1.5 years to build the courage to try it. Food should not touch- especially macaroni salad, cubed potoatoes, a cheeseburger patty, meat gravy, and ketchup! But, that's just what a garbage plate is; a picnic on a plate. And it's awesome!
We love Nick Tahoes. Back in the Depression era, this man wanted to provide the locals with a lot of food for a little money. A garbage plate is what he came up with and it is still a local favorite. Lots of places make them, but I won't eat them from anywhere else. We've had quite a few visitors the last few weeks, and it's been very amusing to watch the different re-actions. We missed it when my sister was here, so here's a picture for her and everyone else to enjoy. I'm already working on the recipe, so it won't be another completely lost NY treasure.

Changes

2009-05-24T13:17:00.000-07:00

Ahh, the power of a girl. The boys willingly traded in light sabers and bikes for curling irons, blow dryers, and brushes.

Miss Halle came to stay with us this weekend, and the boys got a lesson in doll beauty.

It's been wiggly for a couple of weeks now, but on Saturday, Hunter finally finished the job!

Side note: Jordan took Hunter into the clinic for x-rays to make sure all was well with his mouth about the third day the tooth was loose. Hunter is not quite 4 1/2, which is pretty young to loose a tooth, but the secondary teeth are ready, so no concerns.

And finally...Swim party season has begun. By 7:30 in the morning the boys are begging to be outside, and our "backyard" is prime water party ground. It's going to be a great final few weeks here!

Papular Urticaria or Chicken Pox?

2009-05-10T17:06:00.000-07:00

I sold one of the boys' beds last weekend, so they are sleeping on their mattresses on the floor. Last Monday, Henry woke up with what I thought was a bug bite right at the base of his spine. As the day progressed, I noticed there were now three or four little bites there and quite a few around his neck line. So I washed all his bedding, vaccumed the floor, and didn't think about it again. Tuesday, he was the whiniest little guy ever. His tummy was pretty sad all day and just before bed, he had a little fever. Then the thought hit me- "What if he has chicken pox?" He got the vericella vaccine just over two years ago, but I've heard it could happen. Wednesday I called his pediatrician and in we went. Her words to me. "It could be chicken pox or it could be papular urticaria. I can't say for sure one way or the other." In English- It could be chicken pox or he could be having a super sensitive reaction to a bug bite. Um, thanks- that's what I said when I walked in the door. So she told us to treat it somewhat like chicken pox, but she wouldn't give us an official diagnosis of such. As the days have gone on, more spots have come and they all follow the traditional pattern, so I am taking a mother's liberty and diagnosing him myself. He has chicken pox! He was pretty sad to miss nursery today (we only went to church long enough for Hunter to give his very first talk in primary-which he rocked!) but other than that he's fine. The spots on his face are from playing in the mud Wednesday afternoon. He's a little ichy, but he's doing fine. There are more spots on his back, but these are the only pictures he'd let me take.

Picnic Table 1, Hunter 0

2009-04-17T04:41:00.000-07:00

While playing Jedi-
Watch out for the picnic table one must.

Nothing of Consequence

2009-03-06T10:22:00.001-08:00

I find February and March to be a bit like the third quarter of a basketball game: it just kind of drags on with little excitement. Thankfully the Strong Memorial Museum of Play is always like the last minute of a really close game- a whirlwind of excitement!

The boys love to "fly" this airplane. With a million kids and only two chairs, getting to be the pilot or co-pilot are coveted positions.

In honor of Mr. Potato Heads induction to the Toy Hall of Fame, an entire section of the Museum is currently focused on Mr. Potato Head. My boys loved "driving" the Safari Jeep.

Henry's Mr. Potato Head had have a purse. He was so proud of himself for finding all the parts and pieces by himself.

Hunter's was a little more traditional.

And when it's too cold to leave the house, Dad and his boys are fine tuning their old school race car skills.

So nothing much of consequence to blog about, but I'm tired of seeing Henry's birthday blog every time I log on to enjoy the excitement of everyone elses Feb/March. It will be April soon though, and then our lives will pick up in pace and excitement. So until it does, we will continue to be thankful for a great museum. And a great dad.

Finally 3!

2009-02-10T05:52:00.001-08:00

Henry has not liked still being two when Hunter gets to be four, so he's been waiting for weeks to turn three. Jordan had some out of town business, so we actually postponed Henry's birthday a few days (you can still get away with things like that when your child doesn't fully understand the calendar). But yesterday was the day! And in Henry's world, you can do or have anything when you're three. Pizza and games at Chucky Cheese for me- because I'm three! A CARS cake it had to be- because I'm three.

Daddy said the candle would taste yummy. I didn't know he was just teasing me- I am only three.

Henry has grown and learned so much in the past year that it astounds me. He is my handsome prince and I love that he loves with reckless abandon; he gives loves and kisses like nobodies business. He may look/act exactly like his daddy, but at heart he is his Mama's boy! We're so proud of our little one- Happy Birthday Henry.

Worth the Wait!

2009-02-06T17:13:00.001-08:00

The boys have been saving their money (with lots of help from family) for just over two years. We always knew it was a "Mickey Mouse House" fund, but only in the last year did we decide to make the leap before leaving NY. The boys worked really hard- we have added many gross, dirty pennies found in a parking lot to the fund. So, the day after Christmas, we let them open up their bank and count the money. I'll admit, I was impressed!

The last week of January found us escaping yukky cold Rochester for a week in sunny warm Florida. Can I just say, I would worship the sun if Icould! It honestly makes my soul happy. We were lucky enough to have Grandma and Grandpa Higham come as well; they too make my soul happy.

I know the boys may not always have true memories of WDW, but right now it's all they can talk about. I constantly hear about this ride or meeting this character, and I love how their faces still light up when they talk about it. Besides, in 15-20 years, they'll have the implanted memories from their scrapbooks to carry them through. It was a great trip, and I feel strengthened to survive the rest of this artic winter that is devoid of real heat producing sun.

Winter in our World

2009-01-11T16:31:00.000-08:00

The New Year found us on a fabulous sled hill with some great friends. We went to the same hill last year, but it was tons better this year. It was warmer, the wind was calm, and both boys could walk back up the hill by themselves this time. It was a great outing.But when Henry's done, he's done.A recent playdate graced us with the fun of an inside "snow storm". It's amazing the amount of little clingy bead things are in about half of a large bean bag. It's even more amazing the mess two four year olds and an almost three year old can do in about 30 minutes of un-visually observed playtime. (My friend and I were upstairs chatting while the boys played in the basement.) A perfect example of why we need to visually check on our kids, not just always trust their verbal answer of "We're just playing".

Oh well, nothing an extra four hours with a borrowed shop vac and a batch of blueberry muffins (for the shopvac owners- our apartment maintance crew) didn't fix. Gotta love the winter time!

Dear Santa

2008-12-24T09:15:00.000-08:00

Dear Santa,
We're calling your bluff. Mama and Dad have been making us be good for weeks now, saying you won't come if we're not. Well, we're done! We woke up looking for a fight today and we know you're too busy loading the sleigh to back out now, so we're done being good. We're fighting, yelling, being sassy and whiny, throwing toys, and causing mass havoc. What are you gonna do about it? Mama said she was about to be done with us by 8:30 this morning, and she's still here, so we know you won't bail out either. It sure does feel good to get all this pent up naughtiness out!
Love Much-
Hunter and Henry

Merry Christmas Grandma and Grandpa!

2008-12-23T17:33:00.000-08:00

This year we've decided to send Christmas to the Grandparents via our blog. The boys have been practicing for weeks. We miss you, love you, and wish you a Merry Christmas!

The Big 4!

2008-12-23T07:30:00.000-08:00

Hunter turned four last week; an event he has been waiting for and planning since December of last year. I promise he hadn't been three for a day when he started talking about when he would turn 4. This year he got to have his first friends party, and that too he has been planning for over a year. Since Disney's Cars is still his favorite movie (and the only movie he's not scared of), Hunter had a Cars Party. It was a great day- Hunter says it was a "Super-Dee-Duper Fun Party". No, those are not eggs on the cupcakes, they're tires. Or at least they were supposed to be tires. Hunter didn't blow out the candles, he blew off the cupcake! Luckily, Jordan picked it up really quick and nothing caught on fire.Hunter after eating his whole cupcake. None of the other kids managed to eat a whole one. (I made them from scratch, and those cupcakes were solid! Even though is was a seriously yummy little cake, it was just that- a mini cake.) Hunter is in love with his remote control dump truck. Every morning he sneaks into our room and tells me we just have to go downstairs because he's hungry. But then as soon as we get downstairs, all he wants to do is drive his truck. Hunter knows I'll jump and run if I think he needs food; he's a crafty little 4 year old!

Hunter and I made him a real cake on his actual birthday. Daddy also took Hunter out to breakfast and Hunter got to see Santa at Pre-school on his big day too. It was a busy day, but worth it, because Hunter loves being 4!

It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas

2008-12-16T09:34:00.000-08:00

I've never been this ahead of the game before. Usually I don't start acknowledging the Christmas season until mid-December. This year I got my stuff together early, and now our tree is cut and decorated, our gingerbread is baked and decorated, and our shopping is done. It's nice to not be hurried up until the night before.

I find that trees are always better at night with the lights on, but my camera seems to only like it in the daylight hours.This year's house turned out to be a little more than I expected, but it was fun. It was harder and at the same time easier to assemble than last years graham crackers. Again, the boys loved every step; baking the gingerbread, picking out the candy, and of course decorating/eating.

We weren't on top of everything this year. Again we missed the boat on Christmas cards. I have an utmost respect for those families who can get everyone to look decent at the same moment for the camera. I know I could send out a card without a picture, but who wants that? So Merry Christmas to all.

An Update

2008-11-26T07:16:00.000-08:00

She's home! Baby Kesa is two weeks old today, home, and doing great. My sister says she loves to eat and is a very good little girl. Her brothers (especially the 20 month old) love her and always check to make sure she's still there. My sister is healing- she's tired and sore, but she's healing. I love having such a great sister and niece to be thankful for at this time of year. I've posted some "edited" details of the scary birth story at the end, so if you don't want to know- stop reading after the second picture.Seriously- how cute is this little girl's grinner!

My sister, Jen, went into labor what they thought was 2-3 weeks early. She labors quick, so she's never used an epidural and didn't this time either. With her first push, the cord prolapsed (shot out before baby). At the same time, baby flipped into a transverse position (on her side) and pinched off the cord. The doctor held 8-10 inches of non-pulsating cord in his hands as he tried to push baby off the cord to relieve some pressure. Blood and oxygen were still flowing out of baby, but the pathway back was what was shut off. Baby was too stuck to move either way- she wasn't coming out and wasn't going back in- still no pulsations in cord. They flipped my sister onto her head and tried to vacuum baby out. After three unsuccessful attempts, doctor used his hands to open my sister up and go in after baby. (Yes, his hands- not surgical tools) Baby rushed to NIC-U and given lots of NIC-U attention for just over a week. Due to size and developmental stages, Baby determined to be closer to 5 weeks early. Sister received two units of blood and a little extra time in hospital. Now both are home and doing well. Thank heavens for happy endings!

Things I Am Thankful For...

2008-11-18T09:57:00.000-08:00

1- Cell Phones to keep me connected to my sister

2- Hospitals with trained doctors and medical technology

3- Said doctors who know how to act quickly and trust gut instincts

4- Tender mercies from our Heavenly Father

5- The lives of my sister and her first little girl!

My sister, whom I adore, just gave birth to her first little girl- Keasa Keara Jo. It was a very scary and unusual delivery. My sister said I could share her story, but I know at least a couple of our friends that are pregnant or just about to deliver, and the story is not something those people should be reading. Instead, I will focus on the good. Keasa is almost a week old and still in the NIC-U, but her brain activity is fine, she's breathing on her own, and they have now removed all IV lines. Now the doctors are just watching her temperature and jaundice levels. Her awesome black eye will heal, as will the bruises on her head.

Keasa has 5 big brothers who are very excited to welcome her and a daddy that is already so in love with her that it's adorable. My sister is a wonder to all who know her and even though she's in untold amounts of physical pain, she's at home and slowly returning to the duties of a mom of 6. I'm very sad to not be there helping, but thankful for unlimited cell phone minutes and e-mails to receive pictures.

The Family

2008-11-14T20:09:00.001-08:00

I don't usually watch regular t.v. (save for my favorite addictions). I prefer to stick with The Food Network. Now I know why. I like Barbra Walters; I like a good interview, but tonight I feel a little ill about what I spent an hour of my time watching. In a moment of channel surfing, I stumbled upon tonight's Special Report- something about a pregnant man. I'd never even heard of this craziness and now the baby is 4 months old. As flabbergasted as I was at the idea of this outta control story, I could not stop watching. And over and over again as the idea of what makes a family was contested, I could not stop reciting "The Family A Proclamation to the World". Where has common sense gone? My boys are at a stage where they fear being laughed at by other kids. I'll tell you what, nothing in their little lives will ever cause them to be mocked like the unfortunate children of these selfish people. I just don't get it and I guess that's a good thing.

The Animals at the Zoo

2008-11-05T18:40:00.001-08:00

The last few days have been unbelievably beautiful. We're talking high 60's -low 70's, sunny and calm. Amazing! So this morning in the midst of piles of laundry, dishes, and dust, we said "Blah, let's go to the zoo". Just because we bailed on chores, doesn't mean the zookeepers get to take a break. They must have been doing some serious deep cleaning- the entire zoo reeked! I'm not talking a little stink, I'm talking the kind of stink that makes one gag. Thankfully most of the animals were outside and we didn't have to spend much time at the inside exhibits. Despite the stench, the boys loved seeing all the animals. And it was a great day to be outside. Our zoo isn't the most up to date, but they're working on it. Hence all the fence pictures. "Roar, we're Tigers"

Hunter- king of the mountain.

Still a few fall colors left.

The wolves were very cool. The one in the back would howl, and the one in front would howl in response. Or at least it would try- you know how your voice cracks when you try to hit a high note, but are a little sick? That's what happened to the front wolf every time it tried to respond. It was one of those things that should not have been so captivating, but we couldn't turn away. We watched and listened for almost 20 minutes. That poor wolf just wouldn't give up; it just kept singing.

Tonight before prayers, when Jordan and I asked the boys what they were thankful for today, Hunter answered "That we got to see the animals at the zoo". It was a good lesson for me; he may not always notice that I wash his clothes, cook his food, or pick up his toys- that's just everyday stuff. What he'll remember is that one day I didn't. Instead, I took him and his brother to see the animals at the zoo.

Happy? Halloween

2008-11-02T17:45:00.000-08:00

Some enthusiasm please. Halloween was a great day- start to finish- for our family, but you'd never know it by the pictures I got. This is our friend Perrin, the three boys together are "The Guys". They had a great time trick or treating, but not so excited to be taking pictures before getting candy. I may have to post a Halloween II after I get the pictures from Perrin's mom- surely her pictures are happier than ours. Why do we carve pumpkins? No body wants to touch pumpkin guts, the little guys want to hold the sharp tools (not the pretend tools), someone ends up crying, someone ends up yelling, and the grown ups want to just toss the idea all together, but we persist and the end results are worth the effort. Of course I didn't get a picture of Hunter's pumpkin (the one that caused the most yelling and crying). It was really small, but Jordan managed to carve a bat in it. The boys loved them once they were done. So we'll continue to carve pumpkins at Halloween.A week before Halloween, our church hosted a little carnival. Hunter really wanted to participate in the pie eating contest. Does he know what a pie eating contest is? No, but he knows he likes pie and he now likes to eat, so a pie eating contest had to be a good thing. Never to be left out, Henry jumped up to the table at the last second. My two little guys went head to head against a bunch of 6-10 year olds. Somehow eating pie fast made no sense to either the boys, so after the contest was over, I moved them to another table to finish eating their pies. They may have lost the contest, but all they cared about was getting to eat an entire pie. And they left the table with much cleaner faces than the big kids.
Perhaps the best part of Halloween was getting to spend a hour at Daddy's work and riding the bus home with him in his super cool Shrek costume. (Note to self- Don't take on sewing projects when I don't know how to sew!) Jordan got mobbed by the Asian families in our neighborhood. He took a million pictures with kids he doesn't know- He finally understands what it would be like to work in Disney Land. Hunter was a UW Football Player. Henry was a Hunter.Or maybe all Henry needed was some serious sugar intake and his good friend Halle to make his Halloween Happy!

Hacked and Hijacked

2008-11-01T06:41:00.000-07:00

This past week Jordan's e-mail account was "hacked and hijacked". Hotmail actually calls it that- sounds so scary! Someone broke into his account and changed his password. Every time we'd try to access the e-mail account, hotmail would tell us our new password information would be sent to Jordan's account- wait, you mean the account that is being controlled by some unknown scam? The scammer then proceeded to sent fictitious e-mails to everyone on Jordan's contact list, asking for a large sum of money. And while we'd never turn down money... just kidding. Jordan had to answer a million questions from hotmail- they asked him to list everyone on his contact list with their e-mail address and all possible "Subject" headings in his InBox. Seriously, can anyone list all that without looking at their e-mail? So anyway, Jordan finally got his account back (now with a new password), but all his contacts have been erased. The whole situation is annoying, but that's it. We're thankful that it was e-mail, not bank accounts or other forms of identity. Halloween post soon to come!

Fuel Cell Festival

2008-10-15T15:42:00.001-07:00

We are lucky enough to have a cousin of Jordan's living about 30 minutes away. Several times in the past year we have found ourselves at Tiffany's house for various fun and creative activities. This woman is seriously one of the most creative party planners I've come across. Kent, Tiffany's husband, works for GM; he designs and builds fuel cells. What is a fuel cell you ask? A fuel cell converts the chemicals hydrogen and oxygen into water. That's the most basic description I could find. It's all way above my head. Their web site does a pretty good job of dumbing it down for my less than chemistry minded mind, but anyway, fuel cells power the new Chevrolet Equinox Fuel Cell vehicle. The really important thing is we got to drive a car that isn't even for sale yet. Just a little something to brighten my night.
Just a side note: Yes, Jordan is wearing short sleeves, shorts, and flip-flops. It's still a little like summer here. Not bragging, just being thankful for global warming while testing out a Green vehicle.While we waited to drive this bad boy; we got to build these bad boys!
The boys loved building gourd people and frosting sugar cookies. It was a great evening. I even felt inspired to look up fall crafts today. Not inspired enough to actually make anything- I'm building up to that.

An Autumn To Remember

2008-10-14T06:48:00.000-07:00

Fall in the Northeast is truely amazing. We'll be back west next year by this time, so we are trying to take full advantage of the time we have left here. This last weekend found us camping in The Finger Lakes Region- a bit south of us. Die hard campers may argue that because we stayed in a structure with four walls and a roof, we were not really camping. We still had to take all our own blankets, pillows, water, utinsils, blah, blah, blah. We were camping! The sun was shining, the colors were astounding, and my boys (all three of them) were in a little bit of heaven. It was a great weekend.

The view out our kitchen window before we left home

The cabins around our little cabin Our cabin (basically four walls, a roof, and a floor) The view out the front of our cabin- Cayuga Lake Taughannock Falls- Highest free falling waterfall in the eastern U.S.A lovely walk along the very dried up river lead us to the base of the Falls. The boys loved playing in the leaves and walking up the dry river bed. Hunter was very brave and attempted to cross the river on his own. I fully expected him to tip over, but his balance was better than the tippy rocks. He didn't even get wet.Hot dogs and s'mores are the extent of my campfire cooking experience, so when I actually succeeded in pancakes, I was pretty proud of myself. Watkins Glen. Cayuga Lake

I'm so thankful that we had such beautiful weather for our fall camping trip. I love the fall colors and I love warm sunshine, so it was the best of both worlds for me.

He's getting so big!

2008-10-03T05:12:00.000-07:00

First day of Pre-school.
(He was fine, I cried all the way there and all the way home)

No More Training wheels!

A Return to Idaho

2008-09-28T05:12:00.000-07:00

Sometimes blogging is like my laundry; I can never keep up. We've been back from Idaho for just over two weeks, and here I am just now blogging about a great visit home. Jordan is staring at me from across the room, making sure I stay on track. We've got a ton to blog about and I can sometimes dilly dally when I'm blogging. This is a long one, we were home for about three weeks and it was non-stop the whole time. We saw friends, family, and football. I tell ya, there's nothing like Idaho in the early fall.

It's been over a year since the boys last visited Idaho. It's been even longer since they got to play with their best friend from our Seattle days-Dan. The Chambers' house was high on their priority list of places to go in Idaho. I loved seeing the three boys pick up right where they left off in Seattle; as if time and distance meant nothing to their friendship.

We took a little trip to the cabin. Jordan had to fight the wind and rain for our campfire, but once it caught, it was a goodie!

Nothing beats a campfire s'more!
Princess Anna was only a couple of months old when we left- now she's a real little girl who can hold her own with the crazy boys.

The boys used to spend hours at the lake throwing rocks in the water- I tell ya, it's like no time had past at all for these guys.
How cute is this sleepover? Thanks Mark and Katy for a great excursion!

There is a mountain in Swan Valley. It is big. It is bald. It kicked our trash! Jordan thought if we took four wheelers up the back canyon we could save a ton of time and be up and back in about 4 hours. A great little Saturday morning activity that Nick and Kelsey agreed to accompany us on. The four wheelers did save a ton of time, but the never ending timber, six foot tall bushes, sheer rock walls, and straight up terrain kind of slowed us down. Nick is not ducking, the brush is really that tall and thick.

Notice the sunglasses on Kelsey's face. They now belong to the mountain. She threw them in a moment of rage at the absurdity of our chosen path. Strike that, at the lack of existing path up the mountain. This hike was honestly one of the hardest things I've done in a long time. At one point and time I was actually free climbing a shale wall. Yes, I did realize it was not a smart thing to do, but it was climb up the wall or drop down the sheer cliff. Maybe we should have turned back then, but we couldn't just repel down said wall, so we just had to keep going up. The view from our top (yes, we got to the top and realized we weren't even at the top of the right mountain [insert curse word here], but we were out of water and way over on time, so we gave in to Mt. Baldy) was beautiful. The Teton Mountains are back there. And Kelsey found the love to smile again. Hunter and Henry have been waiting for months to ride the horse at Grandpa's cabin. Hunter loved it. Henry just kept saying "This is a big horse, Daddy. A really big horse". (Our nemesis, Mt. Baldy is in the back ground. The shadowy place in Hunter's picture is the official top, we succumbed just to the left of the shadow.) For five glorious days of our trip, we left the boys with Grandma and Grandpa Higham and headed back to Seattle. Celeste, Kelly, Alex, and Will (Jordan's sister, her husband, son, and cousin) all came too. It was awesome. I honestly could not stop the tears as we flew in to the city. They continued to fall as we past the hospital where both my boys were born, the hospital where Hunter made his first two ER visits, the 7-11 we lived behind for four years, and as we saw our friends from such a great time in our life. I did stop crying long enough to cheer for UW at the BYU vs. UW football game. I will not apologize- I have no emotional ties to BYU. I will cheer for them any other time, but when in Seattle and surrounded by people from my favorite place on earth, I had to cheer for UW. Not that it matters, they lost and I spent the majority of the game gabbing with my girlfriends anyway. I also got to rock an adorable baby Braden to sleep during the second half. "Our Anna"- pretty much raised Henry for the first year of his life, so I thought it only fair I get to hog her precious little boy my first time meeting him.
I love Seattle! We spent three days in the San Juan Islands at a beach house Jordan will forever covet. It was our second trip to this house and if Jordan has his way, we will go back for years to come. It's absolutely lovely. Without the boys this time, I had a very relaxing stay. The views are amazing and furniture is perfect for curling up with a good book. Just a few minutes drive from the house is a beautiful spot for whale watching. We watched about 15-20 whales swim by; at least six of those were close enough to hear their tails slap the water and hear them breathe. I've never seen anything like it before. I didn't think it would be as exciting as it was, but it honestly took my breath away.
As if all the aunts, uncles, cousins, and friends weren't enough, here are a few more reasons my boys loved our trip to Idaho.

Playing legos and trucks at Grandma and Grandpa Landon's house.
Playing the piano at Grandma and Grandpa Higham's house. ( I love this picture)Riding crazy tall old school trikes at Grandma and Grandpa Landon's house.Riding golf carts with "Uncle" Nick and "Aunt" Kelsey.Riding on "Aunt" Katie and "Uncle" Bracken.Idaho was good. I've actually had a little bit of trouble adjusting to being back in NY. I guess I'm more of an Idaho girl than I thought.

Farewell to Summer

2008-09-23T16:50:00.000-07:00

I don't know that I'm ready to bid summer farewell, but as often happens, it's not really my choice. We have had a great summer that even though felt short, was cram packed with adventures. Here's a quick look at what the second half of our summer entailed.

We took a little neighborhood nature hike at Stonybrook State Park. The boys loved walking up along side the stream to the different waterfalls. And even though they had no desire to walk into the waterfall, they were all too happy to throw rocks into the water. A few of our neighbors gathered for a little fun in the sun (minus the sun) at Roseland water park about an hour away. This was our second trip in two years and the boys loved the Splash Zone, Lazy River, and Water Slides just as much this year as last. Too bad both years found us at the park on the darkest, coldest days of the summers. The boys loved it though, so that's what's really important.

About mid-July Jordan mentioned the idea of running a 5K. I am so not a runner. Once in Jr. High our track coach needed someone to run the mile just to get the points- time didn't matter, someone just needed to finish the race. I ended up being that someone and I promise you there has never been a slower mile in the history of Jr. High track meets. Everyone lapped me and they were ready to start the next event before I crossed the line. I am so not a runner. And let's be honest, Jordan isn't really built for any kind of distance running either. But we trained and I found a sort of peace in my morning runs (at least the ones without the boys). I still can't fathom marathon runners, but I do enjoy a good solid run now. Mid-August found us at the starting line, and Jordan and I ran together all but the last 100 meters or so; my finishing pace is way slower than his. If I ever run another 5K, my goal is to treat it more like a race instead of a normal daily run. (ie, Pick up the Pace!)

The boys discovered the joy of riding bikes, and we kind of stopped leaving our bubble in the course of a normal day. They have spent hours riding around and around our complex, both on the sidewalks and grass. Hunter has actually now abandoned his "three wheeler" for the much bigger and cooler "four wheeler". Yes, it is purple. Yes, it's in pretty sad shape. Yes, it's technically a girl bike. But to Hunter, it's bigger and faster than his "three wheeler" and it's Husky color. What more could a boy ask for. We're trying not to ruin his three year old innocence. The end of August found us packing for a trip to Idaho (our first in over a year). I found this little intruder curled up on a bag of blankets in our basement as I reached for the luggage. I promise it was bigger than it looks in the picture. At first I thought it was a toy, but a quick check by our neighbor boy told me it was definitely real. Pest control asked me if I realized that, "Pets are not allowed in our housing". A Pet! Seriously, not my idea of a pet! All the neighborhood kids loved the zoo moment as pest control showed it too them all and talked to them about the dangers of touching wild animals. I still don't feel the same about my basement; it's just creepy!

We've had a great summer and truth be told, we're ready to welcome fall.

Toronto

2008-08-24T08:23:00.001-07:00

We may not live in Seattle anymore, but if a part of Seattle is near, we will find it! A quick weekend trip found us in Toronto, Canada for a Mariners game. Hunter loved it, but Henry thought we were going to play a baseball game. You can imagine his disappointment at sitting in a chair rather than running around the field. The Mariners didn't win, but it was still fun for most of us.

Casa Loma is this beautiful castle on a hill. It was built by some guy and his wife, lost in financial ruins, and is now a public building. The day we were there they were setting up for a wedding- how cool to get married in a castle! Scenes from several movies were filmed here (Skulls, X-Men, The Pacifier, Chicago). A trip to Toronto wouldn't be complete without a trip up the CN Tower. A 58 second elevator ride up to the top- a glass floor and a great view for those who aren't scared of heights.
Jordan was super excited to check out the glass floor. It freaked me out. I know it was perfectly safe, but I still didn't want to stand on it.
This was our first trip without a stroller. We just weren't sure how to navigate it through the subways and tourist attractions, so my poor boys had to walk a lot. Maybe a bit too much? Oh well, nothing like a nap on the subway. All in all, we really liked Toronto. It's beautiful, clean, and you can get almost anywhere without coming above ground. They even have shopping malls underground. We liked Toronto.

Big News

2008-08-12T06:41:00.001-07:00

Certain events are too much to believe; they are simply unimaginable until they really happen. And sometimes I think if I think or talk about said event, it will just make it all the more disappointing if it does fail to happen. So, that is why I have waited so long to post this blog- I just didn't want to jinx our great situation. But now it's time to announce... We are day time diaper free! It's been a long, slow road, (that Henry started down himself), but he's doing a great job and loving his big boy underwear. Well done Henry!

We love our Grandma and Grandpa Higham!

2008-07-28T13:56:00.000-07:00

Jordan's parents came to visit in early July; I know, I know, we are the luckiest kids in the world. Guess that's what happens when the babies of two families get married- we're spoiled!
It didn't take long for my boys to break out their sillies- even at the Palmyra Temple grounds.I love fruit season. I love the beautiful trees/bushes, I love harvest time, and I love to eat fresh fruit. We'd never picked blueberries before; I had no idea that blueberry bushes are beautiful. I will definitely miss U-Pick farms when we move back to Idaho. Successful cherry picking.
Yes, Henry is trying to eat the wagon- not any of the yummy edible fruit, but the dirty wooden wagon. That's my Henry!
No visit to us is complete without a trip to "The Big Wafferfall" (Niagara Falls).
Lucky for us, on this particular trip to Niagara,the Tumbler from the new Batman Movie was on display. My boys have no idea who Batman is, but they liked his car! We had a great time with Grandma and Grandpa Higham. We are half way done with this residency and we're feeling the call of home and family. We are so thankful for all those that have been able to come visit us; there's nothing like family to keep the homesickness at bay.
So from our home to all the friends and family that have visited us so far...
And for those of you who are still thinking about taking a trip; it's beautiful here in any season and our door is always open.

Thank Heavens for Grandparents! (Kind of three posts in one)

2008-06-25T09:51:00.000-07:00

My parents flew out for some quality grandkid time a couple of weeks ago; never ones to let an opportunity pass, Jordan and I went to New York City for the weekend. I know we are spoiled, but we're greatful spoiled. My boys loved having grandma and grandpa at their beck and call. We probably wore them out more than they bargined for, but at least they weren't bored! The boys with Grandma and Grandpa at the Palmyra Temple- Check out Hunter's cool hat! (I'm not sure if you can see Hunter's face in this picture, but he looks completely disgusted- I'm sure it's because of his hat!)
The barn at the Joseph Smith Farm- My boys were very concerned that there were no animals. The Sacred Grove, however, proved to hold plenty of animals for the boys. Their favorite was all the dragon flies.

"A Perfect Day for Dragon Flies"
Niagara Falls- Any questions as to where Hunter learned to wear his hat?
I'm not sure what Hunter is doing in this picture, but my mom was agast.

Feeding ducks along the Erie Canal

A Weekend in The City
Jordan and I left the boys with my parents for the weekend while we took a little trip into New York City. It was a great little get-away. We're very thankful for my parent's willingness to stay with the boys. Here are a few highlight pictures.

A view from the top of Rockefeller Center- Central Park is huge!The Tony Awards were held just a couple of blocks from our hotel- I almost got on The Red Carpet!We got dumped on! Three inches of rain in one day. Jordan bought an umbrella from a street vendor, but one umbrella would not be enough. Lucky? for us we had a China Town Dollar Store umbrella (it turned inside out seconds after we took my picture in front of the Empire State Building). It was an awesome rain shower. We hiked about 10 blocks through rivers to reach Serendipity; Frozzzen Hot Chocolate is Yummy!We loved Central Park. It is unbelievable that a park like that exists in the middle of such a large city. Very beautiful.

It has been great to travel so much again. We're not going anywhere for a while now- at least for a few weeks. Thanks again to all our friends and family that have helped make it possible.

Philly

2008-06-17T18:29:00.000-07:00

We spent a day in Philadelphia soaking in some sun and the historical sites. True to form, the boys loved chasing the pigeons better than the Liberty Bell or Independence Hall.

The Liberty Bell

Idependence Hall

The hot sun, need of a nap, and grown-up buildings didn't make my boys feel like smiling for any pictures.

Chasing birds to the rescue. The day wasn't a total waste for the boys- they got to run in circles and chase birds- a good day for them!

We stopped in Lancaster, PA (Amish country) on the way home. Watching them harvest hay was unbelievable. Jordan really wanted to take pictures, but I wouldn't let him. Just imagine harvest time in the 1800's- same dress and machines. Such a different life we live.

Washington D.C.

2008-06-12T18:23:00.000-07:00

Just four days after returning home from our cruise, we (as a family) took off for Washington D.C. Sometimes I am thankful for Jordan's persistence, and this was one of those times. I really fought going for a few weeks- I didn't want to wrestle the boys in D.C. by myself for two days while Jordan attended dental conferences. It worked out to be a great little trip though, so I'm thankful Jordan wouldn't accept my refusals.

We were able to stay in the Hilton Washington- the hotel where President Regan was shot in 1980's. The rock tunnel behind the boys was built in the exact spot to give future VIPs an enclosed exit to prevent assasination attempts.

Hilton Washington

After a long day at the National Zoo, the boys were too tired to by excited by the White House.

They fell asleep just a block or two after leaving the hotel and slept through the subway rides and a good chunk of the Mall.

The massive amount of people kept the boys pretty entertained as I walked them around D.C., but we did make it to one museum- The National Museum of Flight. Even though the boys loved it, I kinda wish I would have taken them to The Museum of Natural History. I think they would have liked it more. Guess that gives us a reason to go back!
I don't think we missed a single monument. I'm so thankful for our ghetto stroller- it's so old and broken in more than one place, but it still gets the job done well enough. My boys don't care that it's rusty, or that it's a beast to open; they just like that they don't have to walk everywhere I walk. It's a good stroller.

We drove out to the Washington D.C. Temple one night and the boys loved running along the nature trails and in circles around the parking lot. The view of the Temple from the Beltway is beautiful, but the boys didn't appreciate it nearly as much.

Our visit to Mount Vernon was amazing. Hunter watched a movie! It was historical and we had to have a whole lesson about death afterwards, but he made it through a movie. (Hunter is afraid of every movie ever made- except Disney's Cars) Again, the boys loved running in circles through the dirt most of all. If Jordan could have a home on acreage like that of Mount Vernon, he'd be in heaven. Despite the looks of disgust on my boys' faces, it was really beautiful.

There's more to this trip, but my brain can't focus right now. My parents are here and we've been starting super early and coming in super late for the last few nights. Poor Hunter fell asleep in the cemetary last night and had to sleep in his clothes. I know that sounds odd- I'll explain in that in a future episode. Stay tuned for Philly!

Cruise Vacation

2008-06-07T06:14:00.000-07:00

We have had an amazing summer so far, and summer hasn't even officially begun yet! The first part of May we were fortunate enough to have Jordan's nephew Nick and his wife Kelsey put their lives on hold and come stay with our boys. We know Nick is really a cousin to my boys, but they have always called him "Uncle Nick", and I think it's cute. We went to Niagara Falls; the boys love "The Big Wafferfall" (that's what Henry calls it). Then Jordan and I were off for a 7 night Western Carribean Cruise while Nick and Kelsey geared up for a week they'd never forget!

Niagara Falls with Uncle Nick and Aunt Kelsey

It was a perfect vacation that I miss every day. We sailed on the Freedom of the Seas (Royal Carribean) to Hati, Jamaica, Grand Cayman, and Cozumel. I seriously cannot imagine a more relaxing vacation; we ate, slept, read, and just hung out whenever we wanted- 24 hours a day. Jordan and I started working out in January just to compensate for all the food we knew we'd eat. In one week's time, we nearly gained back what it took us almost four months to lose. It was worth it though and I'd not take back a single ice cream cone, triple chocolate cookie, fine dining meal, or late night sushi feast.

A view from the 13th deck aboard The Freedom of the Seas

The beach at Lebadee, Hati

Dunn River Falls, Ocho Rios, Jamaica

The sun was a little too intense for Jordan, so he did his pool side reading in the shade.

We ate a lot of great food at this table- I think besides the main entree, I ordered two appetizers and two desserts every night!

We're very thankful to Uncle Nick and Aunt Kelsey for taking care of our boys so we could take this vacation! We're already dreaming of our next cruise- in about 10 years!

Broken Computer = No New Entries

2008-05-28T08:22:00.000-07:00

We have a ton to blog about, but our computer is broken. I am reduced to blogging at the public library while my boys play trains- is that pathetic? Just wanted to put a new something on so you wouldn't be forced to look at my new (not so new anymore) haircut. We hope to have our computer back within a week or so, and then we will re-join the blog world!

Spring Cleaning

2008-04-25T07:41:00.000-07:00

I am the worst at getting my hair cut; I love it, but never do it. My last decent hair cut was in May of 2006. It was way past time; I was living in a pony tail 24/7. One of Jordan's fellow residents did all the research and found me a great salon where a couple of weeks ago I had my hair chemically straightened (like a reverse perm) and cut. I am super excited to say that I am no longer a white girl with an afro.

Augusta National

2008-04-16T18:36:00.001-07:00

Thanks to Jordan's brother Jamey's great connections, Jordan was able to attend a practice round for The Masters with his dad and Jamey. Jordan has spent his entire life watching The Masters, so getting to see Augusta National up close and personal was an amazing treat.

Tiger

The view from the Club House down Magnolia Lane

Jordan and his dad in front of the Club House

View of #11 Green

#11 and #12 Greens with Hogan's Bridge in the middle

View from beind #16 Green
Jordan's dad and brother Jamey with #2 Fairway #16 Green

The Maple Festival

2008-04-16T18:13:00.000-07:00

We took a little road trip to central New York for the Maple Festival the first weekend of April. The boys were super excited for the train ride to the actual festival sight. Henry was in the middle of a tantrum, but managed to say "cheese" for the picture.

We loved sampling all the maple products. Maple syrup (freshly made), maple cream (maple lovers version of peanut butter), maple suckers, and maple cotton candy- nothing like a little sugar rush to dispel the gloom of the cloudy skies.

It was a great little get away and we're continuously grateful to live in a place with such fabulous day trips!

Sunday Visitor

2008-04-01T17:08:00.000-07:00

Wouldn't you be so excited if this were your child? We were entertained all Sunday by watching the neighborhood Asian children enteract with this little skunk. Toward the end of the day, they loaded it up on a skateboard and took it into the woods. One little guy even asked if he should get it a blanket.

Easter

2008-03-23T17:48:00.000-07:00

This year we hosted an Easter Brunch late Saturday afternoon for a few of the other Dental Residents and their families. In between actual food and dessert, the dads conducted an egg hunt in our back yard. Henry did a great job even though it was his first public egg hunt. Hunter quickly discovered the down side of using a bucket- eggs bounce out! Next year I'll be more on the ball and find bags. The boys loved having friends over to share in such a fun activity.

Yesterday's egg hunt got our boys super excited for the Easter Bunny to come. Hunter did tell me though that the Easter Bunny needs to be "more tricky" in hiding eggs.

Whopper eggs are my favorite Easter candy, but I'm a pretty big fan of good jelly beans too; Jordan loves Cadbury Eggs. All the boys want to eat are "jell beams". So now I have way too much left over candy that is calling my name. Who can say no to Whoppers?

"I'm a lucky boy"

Hunter was pretty excited that he found both money eggs. (Note: next year make sure we have one dollar bills before Easter morning).

Potty Time!

2008-03-23T17:29:00.000-07:00

This is where we spend a solid amount of our day lately. If it's not Hunter, it's Henry, and sometimes it's both. We go through a lot of hand washing, but soap is cheaper than diapers, so bring it on! Hunter has decided that smiling for the camera is not nearly as fun as pulling "silly" faces. I hope it's a phase he grows out of quickly.

Seriously, what can I say about this picture? I left Henry on the potty so I could run down stairs and check on Hunter. When I came back up, here's my little Henry enjoying a good read. Could he be any more of a little man? Same day as top picture, so luckily the camera was still right by the bathroom.

Trains and Strollers

2008-03-20T18:35:00.000-07:00

Does anyone else remember the Noah's Ark segment of a show done by Michael McLean in the late 80's or early 90's? There are two separate songs that keep echoing in my head. One repeats the lines "Stir crazy, yes we are. Stir crazy, yeah!" and the other has a chorus of "It's raining, it's pouring, the animals are snoring and it's raining, it's pouring, how long will this go on?"

So while it's not raining here, it's snowing and blowing and we're stir crazy! My boys have decided that anywhere we go is a great place run like crazy men, yell at the top of their lungs, and announce to the entire universe they need to "Pee in Potty!" (Hunter is doing a stellar job with his potty training-he loves the toilet-seriously loves it. He'll sit on it forever- to the point of driving me crazy forever. Henry likes it about every other day- today not so much) Needless to say, trips out have turned into more stress than they're worth. It seems by 9am I'm wondering how we will ever survive the remaining nine hours until Daddy comes home.

Yesterday as I was upstairs gathering laundry, Hunter and Henry were playing in the basement, and Hunter began his now favorite yell, "Mom, Mom, MOm, MOm, MOM, MOM, MOM..." It drives me crazy that he doesn't even wait for me to answer in between "Moms", but he just wanted me to come see what he and Henry had built.

As I came back down the stairs and saw how proud they were of all their hard work, I couldn't help but be proud of them too. Sometimes they fight like crazy, but sometimes they really pull it together and cooperate. I am constantly grateful they have each other; now I can say I wouldn't want it any other way.

Tonight they campaigned to keep our double stroller that I felt they were too big for and even posted on craigslist. They ate dinner in it and watched 30 minutes of Max and Ruby ( a new favorite for all but Jordan in our house), so it must be worth keeping.

We're not sure why Hunter chose to make his monkey face for the picture, but we're not sure of the reasoning behind most of what the boys do lately. I can't wait to see what they'll come up with for tomorrow.

February Finds

2008-02-26T08:28:00.000-08:00

Here is a little randomness from the second half of our February. We never know day to day if we'll have snow, sun, ice, or a combination thereof. Jordan and the boys went sledding in our back yard on the snow/ice combo. It was super cute to watch the boys try to walk on the ice crusted snow- as long as they stayed in their Dad's footprints, it was somewhat manageable. It reminded me of a Mama Duck and her ducklings. Towards the end, Henry gave up trying to follow and just started to crawl. When even that failed to work, he just started rolling around on the ice in the general direction of his goal. Very funny!

Ice or not, the boys had a blast!

Henry loves his baby doll (he also has a baby- plastic head, no hair-that he loves from Grammie Higham). Just recently we've been able to sneak into the boys room and tuck them in after they're asleep. Super cute to find Henry cuddling his baby doll.

Our handsom little men. All dressed up for church- too bad they didn't look quite this nice after the three hour wrestling match that is our Sunday. They're cute little devils though!

Boo for Mud Puddles!

2008-02-25T18:15:00.000-08:00

Hooray for a sunny (if yet still cold) day to swing on the playground. Boo for mud puddles!

My poor sweet Hunter; he was so happy to be outside playing in the sun. He and Henry have missed the playground and the swings. Too bad as Hunter was playing airplane on the swing, he slid off the front and landed face first in the mud puddle. Yes, he's screaming in the first picture. No, he's not hurt; he's angry that he's so dirty. "Get this stuff off of me" is what kept coming out between screams. I'm glad the camera was right by the door, Hunter laughed and laughed at the pictures- after his bath.

Aunt Jen

2008-02-07T11:58:00.000-08:00

A few months ago, Jordan gave me an amazing gift: a visit from my sister. So now after 10 weeks of anticipation, my sister has come and gone and it was a week to never forget. Jenifer lives in Idaho with her husband and five boys (ages 12, 11, 10, 7, and 10 months), so you can only imagine what a sacrifice her family had to make for her to leave them for six days and come stay with me. I am forever greatful to both my husband and her family.

How much can you cram into six days? From sushi to the Statue of Liberty, we did it all- mostly.

Rubba Dub Dub, three babies in the tub. There is equal spacing between all three boys (Hunter and Henry are 14 months apart; Henry and Paxten are 14 months apart). My boys loved having Baby Paxten around.
Jordan arranged for me and Jen to spend a day in New York City; he kept all three boys while we had a girls day out. At first I thought it would be a relaxing day of sight seeing. We quickly discovered how wrong I was. Our 4:30am cab didn't show, the lines at the airport were crazy long, and they called "Final Boarding" for our flight before we were even through security at the airport. Have you ever seen those movies where the crazy people are running full speed through the airport yelling, "hold the plane"? Yeah, that was me and my sister. We sat down (no shoes, belts, our carry-on bag trailing gloves, scarves, hats, ...) and before we could even catch our breath the plane was off. But we made it and our day of adventure had begun.

New York subways are not like other subways through-out the world. But it's much cheaper than a cab, so we decided to travel the city by subway and foot. The wind was super strong and the Staten Island Ferry was no where in sight, so we opted out of our planned ferry ride and admired Lady Liberty from the water's edge.
I'm not sure what I expected from the World Trade Center site, but I felt more walking away from it- down the same streets I remembered from the news broadcasts - than at the site itself. I'm sure someday when the memorial is complete it will be powerful, but for me it was hard to see it as more than a construction site.

I love Grand Central Station. It's so sparkly and polished. I'm sure it's much busier during rush hour, but early on a Saturday it was pretty mild.

We found our way to Times Square a bit before our scheduled time, so we explored the three story ToysRUs (kids need proof that mama really was in NYC), complete with a full size farris wheel. Standing still in the middle of mayhem was fabulous- everybody in a hurry, everybody with somewhere to be (Chinatown was the same way!), and us two stary eyed Idaho girls just soaking it in. We shared a hot dog from a street vendor- not recommended. $2.00 for a silly hot dog on a bun with ketchup and mustard- what's so special about that? I somehow thought that a NYC street vendor hot dog would be magical.

Jordan got us tickets to see Phantom of the Opera; it was magical! The music was stuck in our heads for days.Rockefeller Center and St. Patrick's Cathedral were beautiful. We didn't actually make it to the Chrysler Building, but we could well see it in the skyline-it too was beautiful.

The Empire State Building. We road to the top and somehow were surprised at how much colder and windier it was than down on the street. I have a crazy strong fear of man made heights, so a quick look at the view from each side and I was good to go- no need to linger some 82 stories above ground when it's windy and cold anyway!

Our return trip home (subways, air trains, and flight) was much more relaxing than our previous journey some 16 hours before- I was asleep before the plane took off. A day in the city- what a great day it was!

Even though we could hardly move Sunday morning, Jen and I loaded up the three boys and headed for Niagra Falls. (We thought Jordan could use some re-coup time) It was so cold and windy that we didn't last long at the falls, but my boys loved throwing ice chunks over the fence and into the water. We were all amused by the thick ice that covers everything from the mist off the falls.
Before Jen had to leave, we made the trip to Palmyra. It was too cold and slushy/icy to make it very far into the Sacred Grove, but it was very interesting to see the Joseph Smith homes. My boys were most awed by the fact that the missionaries were girls. Henry, " Girl missionaries?" over and over the whole time we were there. The Hill Cumorah is very pretty even in winter and without all the pagent galla. Sometimes I forget how close I live to our churches founding location- so much deadication and sacrifice and it all started in a place about 30 minutes from my little apartment.

"The Boo Babies" (Jordan only had one mis-hap on his day of the boys- a lost binki for Paxten, that turned out to not be lost after all. So my boys adopted the new ones he bought, but just for a little while. Surprisingly, Hunter re-latched on much more than Henry) We were very thankful to have Aunt Jen here for Henry's birthday. It's always fun to share with family and friends. My boys miss having baby Paxten to play with and Aunt Jen's magic bag of toys. I'm so greatful that Jen got to come visit; it was a great mid-winter boost for my soul! Thanks to all our friends and neighbors who made our mid-day habachi and late nite sushi runs possible!

Happy Birthday Henry!

2008-02-07T11:17:00.000-08:00

Henry turned two on Monday! I can't believe how quickly these past two years have gone by; our lives would truely be uncomplete without our "Little E". Henry is the heart melter- there's just something about him that is unresistable. Henry has the honor of being born in SuperBowl season, but this year the pull of Mickey Mouse was stronger than that of football, so a Mickey Mouse cake it was. Luckily Aunt Jen was here (see next posting for more info on that) to share some cake with- Henry mostly just liked to squish it with his little hands- some things never change.

At age 2, Henry still enjoys the feel as well as the taste of his food; from pancakes to mac and cheese (two of his favorites) as much ends up on his face as in his mouth. He can use a spoon and fork, he just prefers his fingers.

Here is a bit of trivia about Henry at 2:

Loves: Cars, trains, baby dolls, broccoli, chocolate milk, coloring, singing "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star", swinging, driving dump trucks, wearing big boy underwear like Hunter,his blankies, and most of all his pillow. Henry always wakes up with a smile and a lovey.

Not a fan of: Bananas, peanut butter, naps, sitting still for stories

We are so thankful that Henry decided to join our family when he did- we'd be lost without him!

So it begins...

2008-01-25T07:17:00.000-08:00

I'll spare you the pictures of the final results, but don't kid yourself- I took a picture! Hunter is very excited to be wearing big boy underwear. Henry gets to wear it too, but on the outside of his diaper. We're a long way from being completely trained, but we're on our way!

A Trip to the Whee-oo Whee-oo Barn

2008-01-13T10:52:00.000-08:00

What is a Whee-oo Whee-oo Barn? Why it's where the firetrucks live of course. All vehicles with flashing lights and the possibility of sirens are "Whee-oo Whee-oos" in our house. The boys don't get to see or hear nearly as many as they did in Seattle, but they still love all firetrucks, police cars, and ambulances. It was a fun trip to the fire station and the boys loved "driving" the trucks, seeing the lights, and getting their very own helmets and coloring books.

Our Christmas

2007-12-28T18:18:00.000-08:00

Our first "gingerbread" house. I really had planned on baking real gingerbread, but before I could get my stuff together, it was Christmas Eve and the graham crackers had to suffice. The boys thought a candy house was the best idea ever! Note to Aunt Jen- the "Choker candies" will not be eaten by anyone- I tried to fight even having them in the house, but to no avail. ( My sister and I seriously choked on those hard round peppermint candies more than once as kids- no, we're not fast learners)

Sunglasses and football cards- it's the little things that make us the happiest.

A few days before Christmas, I read that Rochester had already recieved over 34 inches of snow for the month of December. It was a long wait for Santa to bring them some boots, snow pants, hats, and gloves, but well worth the wait. Even though the once 8 foot tall snow piles are now less than 2 feet, the boys loved it! As much as we missed being with our families, it was nice to stay home. A bit odd to have Jordan work up until Christmas Eve and then go back the day after Christmas, but I guess we can't live the high life of school forever.

The Big 3!

2007-12-18T20:50:00.000-08:00

Hooray for me; today I'm 3!

What a day. Mama and Dad sang Happy Birthday before I even got out of bed, my grandmas and grandpas called to wish me a great day, and my friend Dan called too. All of that even before lunch! Then my Dad took a big lunch break and we all went to Chuck E Cheese; I love all the games there. I got a lot of presents! New golf clubs from Mama and Dad, Henry gave me new golf balls,a car from my grandma and grandpa, a "credit card" from Aunt Jen, and my friends Brooke and Sydney even sent me a present all the way from Idaho! I didn't have a party this year, but our friends the Shermans came over for cake and ice cream. I chose a Diego cup cake tree and got my candle out on the first try! I like being three; I can get myself undressed, I hardly ever make a mess when I eat ( I hate to get my hands, face, or clothes dirty), and I'm getting really good at coloring and drawing. I'm not feeling so good the last couple of days though- I have a cold sore and a cough, so Mama says I have to go take a rest now. I just wanted to share a picture and some videos of my big day with everyone. So far 3 has been good to me.

Happy Birthday Grandma!

2007-12-11T11:29:00.000-08:00

Yesterday was Jordan's mom's birthday. The boys were so excited to sing to her- they practiced all through the grocery store, much to the amusement of the "grandma and grandpas" that were in the store. We love Grandma Higham! Thanks for being such a great mother and grandmother.

Oops!

2007-11-20T17:44:00.000-08:00

So, this is what happens when the woman tries to do the man's job.

We turned our heat on a few weeks ago, but just hadn't gotten around to taking the air conditioners out of the windows (I know, we're like the ghetto family with Christmas lights still up in May). So last week, I'm vacuuming the boys window ledges, and decide that I could probably take their a.c. out myself- "won't Jordan be proud of my independence" I think as I start to lift open the window. Not more than a millimeter later and whoosh-it disappeared. Smashed into oblivion! I wanted to cry, but the shock and disbelief was too great. Wow! Did that really just happen? Did I really just drop my babies a.c. out a second story window? Wow! Who knew it was that tricky? Jordan wasn't upset that I destroyed one of our a.c. units, but he was pretty sad that he didn't get to see my face as it disappeared out the window. I guess I should use a little more discresion when I try to do the man's jobs.

Halloween

2007-11-01T07:52:00.000-07:00

We like Halloween. Our fun began a few weeks ago trying to come up with a costume for Jordan (mandatory for a Pediatric Dentist) that was not too hot, not too cumbersome, and kid friendly. It was a long, but successful search. More on that later.

We spent a Saturday searching for the perfect pumpkins and then carved them for family night.

Hunter wasn't crazy about touching "pumpkins guts", but both boys liked the finished product.

Our church held a carnival and "Trunk or Treat" on Tuesday. The boys mostly liked running and sliding on the gym floor in their costumes, but the candy was like some great surprise for them. On Halloween itself, they got to wear their costumes again for neighborhood trick or treating. They didn't last so long on the second round of getting treats, but it was still fun. I was surprised by the number so suckers they received, but that's the only treats they've really wanted since, so someone knew what they were doing.

So Jordan has had a couple of assistants tell him he looks like Mr. Incredible since we've been here. Seriously? Hadn't thought of that before, but now that they mention it, I see some resemblance. We searched costume shops, Halloween shops, and finally turned to our good friend e-bay. So off Jordan went to work as Mr. Incredible. We thought it was a good costume idea- so did his co-workers. Jordan won Best Costume! Always fun to win a contest. This is probably our last year with the chicken costumes. So very cute when they were little tiny guys, but three years has probably gotten us our money's worth. I'm excited to see what they'll be next year. I already have some ideas, but maybe we should take it one day at a time.

Our Daddy the Dentist & The Museum of Play

2007-10-24T17:05:00.000-07:00

Even though Jordan checks out the boys' teeth every night, we decided they needed an appointment with Daddy the Dentist, not just Daddy. They loved it! The big up and down chair, the fun sunglasses, practicing brushing on the giant teeth and picking out their own stickers; so much fun. Jordan enjoyed the visit as well; two rather calm and no issue patients in a row doesn't happen every day.

Even before we moved here, everyone told us about the Strong Museum of Play. I bought our pass our second week here (it also covers the zoo), but we didn't actually visit the Museum until just a couple of weeks ago. Now I see why everyone loves it. The boys could get lost in play land for days. We will be making good use of the pass once winter sets in, but for now we have to take advantage of the last few days of sun.

A childhood dream fulfilled

2007-10-08T17:57:00.000-07:00

When I was four, my first sister got married and moved away. She and her husband traveled all over the country for quite a few years and she would always call home with stories of the fabulous or not so fabulous places they were either living or had visited. At some point in time she told me of Vermont. The most beautiful place ever- I honestly don't remember any exact words, but something she said made me believe Vermont was my dream location. Last week Jordan took me and the boys for a long weekend to upstate NY and Vermont.
We first went to Thousand Islands, NY. Crazy the things people do with an island. Boldt Castle is a tragic love story. This man builds his wife a castle as a sign of his love. Three months before it's finished she dies and he orders all work to stop and forbids his children or grandchildren from ever visiting the castle again. At 80 percent complete, he walked away. I told Jordan if he ever aspired to build me a castle and I died, he best not waste all that money by abandoning it!

Boldt Castle

So the little bridge in this photo is actually the US/Canada border. I guess the man of the house can't just leave home when his wife's hormones go crazy, he uses the bridge and leaves the country! I'm sure Jordan would appriciate that option some days.

Just the house on this island, no landscaping requried. This island is just the deck. Odd.

I found this little place on a lake that was super cheap right in the heart of Vermont for our last night of the trip. One might ask, "Why would a place on a lake, right in the mist of prime tourist travel be so very cheap?" Well, the view was great, my boys loved throwing rocks in the water , and we got out alive. Enough said.

Throwing rocks in the lake at the cabin
View from our cabin

On our way home, we went through Sharon, VT- the birthplace of Joseph Smith. It was truly stunning. One of the more beautiful places we visited.

I saved our favorite pictures from the trip for the last. Inbetween Thousand Islands and Vermont, we traveled through the Adirondack State Park. Beautiful. We spent one hurried night at Lake Placid (home to two winter olympics), where the view from our posh hotel was awesome. Like being on top of the world.
Vermont Cows
Lake Placid

New England Fall

Fall in the north east is beautiful, we're very lucky to be able to experience this part of the country. So thank you Jordan for continuing to fulfill all my dreams. Now I'm off to dream of new dreams.

Boston, Boston, Boston

2007-09-17T18:44:00.001-07:00

Born to be a Husky.
Even three thousand miles away my babies are still Husky fans! Watching the UW vs. Syracuse game was awesome; it was like a little slice of home away from home. Putting Hunter's hat on resulted in my favorite conversation in ages- here are the highlights. As mom puts on the hat, Hunter "When I grow bigger and bigger I work at McDonalds" Henry "Me too, me too". Mom "Oh no, not two McDondalds flunkies". Hunter "McDonalds has monkeys?!"
I have mixed emotions about Boston. It reminded me of Seattle in that I really didn't like it for the first few hours (I hated Seattle when we visited on our honeymoon and when we went to look for housing- it seriously had to grow on me),so I imagine that I could absoultely fall in love with Boston if given enough time. There are a ton of things to do and we covered most of them. If anyone ever visits Boston, I highly recommend the "Go Boston" Card- you pay once and then just flash the card at all the venues. The boys loved the subways (trains), Duck bus/boat (Ride the Ducks),the Boston Children's Museum (more trains), and the Aquarium (a lot of penguins). Jordan loved the Freedom Trail and all the historical sights. We visited a lot of Paul Revere sights and the State House- where the Declaration of Independence was read to the public for the first time. Boston is definately a city rich in history.
Our last stop in Boston was Fenway- to see the Big Green Monster and watch a Red Sox game. Note to self: Fenway is not Safeco. The seats are so very small and so very close together. It didn't work to only buy two tickets and then just hold the boys. Complete misery! We lasted just shy of three innings and then had to bail.

On a good note: we didn't have to squish together for the family picture- that's how we were the whole time. I really liked the stadium though.
Poor Henry left his "Boo" in the hotel. (It's really in my kitchen cupboard) I seriously think if Jordan weren't a dentist I'd give the boo right back to Henry. It was like a drug for him- complete uphoria. I guess if he someday has unresolved issues with Boston we'll know why.
It's good to be home. Jordan has started his fall schedule and I'll go ahead and say it's not so user friendly. Early classes, lunch classes, and late classes- long days for everyone. They say it's just this first fall that's rough, so I guess if we survived 2nd year dental school we can handle this fall.

Take Me Out to the Ballgame...

2007-08-27T18:35:00.000-07:00

The Little League World Series!
Jordan watched the games every year while growing up, so now that we're only two hours away, how could we not go to watch them in person. The boys were great for the ride down and were real troopers in the 98 degree heat. I forgot to charge the camera before we left, so we had to take pictures with a disposable from Walmart. How ancient and even embaressed we felt asking people to take our picture with a disposable! It sure did make us thankful for the technology of digital cameras though. On a good note: we were excited to get our film back to see if any of our pictures turned out- isn't that silly. Oh yeah- USA(Georgia) beat Japan for the World Championship in two extra innings with a home run for those of you who didn't catch it on ESPN.

On this little getaway we also visited Hershey, PA. The boys enjoyed the park, but Jordan and I are just not amusment park people. We both got a little sick on the kiddie roller coaster; the boys however, were fine. We split up and took them on the Skyview- nice little ride over the park- nice that is unless you're afraid of heights. Somehow I didn't even think of that until Henry and I left the ground. Poor Henry had a little death grip sweat mark on his shirt. I was terrified. Once again, the boys loved it.
Our final stop was Gettysburg. Jordan and I have been watching the PBS series since we moved here (it's ten videos long), so we felt pretty prepared. I have a whole new respect for the Gettysburg Address- I don't know that it meant much to me in high school, but now it stirs something in me. We bought a copy and I hope to frame and hang it up. I still cannot fathom living in such a time as they did; I am thankful we live where we live- timeline and location.
We saw a lot of great things and probably had some great picture moments, but without the power of digital, we didn't bring home any real winners. I'll remember to charge the camera for next weekend's trip to watch the UW Huskies @ Syracuse and our Boston tour.

Is this Heaven? No, it's Whipple Park!

2007-08-19T15:23:00.000-07:00

So, we are finally settled in to our Real New York Home. The boys think it's a little slice of heaven; playground ten steps out the front door, huge sandbox around the corner, always friends to play with, and never a dull moment. We are very pleased with our decision to live in Graduate housing while here in Rochester.

Henry has a new nickname- "Naughty Naughty". Our angel baby has developed his own little defiant personality. Most of the time he'll look at me to make sure I know he's about to be naughty and then laugh and rush all the more when I tell him no. He's pretty much perfected the "No" face. It makes me laugh every time
Hunter just runs non-stop. From the time he wakes up until we wrestle him into the bath at night (sometimes he settles in for a nap) he loves to play with his friends and all the communal toys. We are in a good place.

Jordan is enjoying work- it started out pretty slow, but now they keep him pretty busy and he is confident that he can do this for a living. Good thing- I don't want to start over now. I am not the dedicated wife that those supporting husbands working towards a PhD are; I need an end date. So many families here are in PhD programs that could take anywhere from 4 to 8 years, they really don't know how long the process will take. I'm thankful Jordan is Dental, not PhD.
We're pretty excited for the next few weeks- a couple of really great weekend trips- the Little League World Series and Boston.

Fourth of July

2007-07-05T10:54:00.000-07:00

This Fourth of July was different than any other we've celebrated; no friends, no barbecue, and no sunshine. We woke up to grey rainy skies- it was kind of nice weather actually- we felt a touch of Seattle here in Rochester. Since we had no family or friends around, we were forced to make our own home-made ice cream. Jordan undertook that process with a little help from Hunter and it turned out very yummy!

The boys are obsessed with trains lately. Every time we leave the apartment Hunter askes if we're going to buy his trains. I cannot believe how spendy those little toys are! We've been watching Craig's List and E-bay, but have finally decided that even from those sights it is just too big a present for "just because". So yesterday(on the way home from the toy store where we went to play trains) we told Hunter that when he is ready to only use the big boy potty and has no more diapers, we'll buy his trains. He said okay and hasn't asked since.

We finally ventured into Chucky Cheese land. The boys loved the games and pizza. Might be a little kid magic kinda thing- Jordan and I decided we like McDonalds better.

The little town were we're staying while waiting to get into student housing had their own carnival and fireworks show right across the street from our apartment,so we took the boys over during a break in the rain. Slides are another obsession of the boys right now (especially Henry), so the "Fun Slide" seemed like a great idea. I took Henry first. Really narrow, wobbly, and high stairs kinda had me freaked out before we even got on the slide, but we toughed it out and even though Henry shook the whole way down he laughed when we were done. Hunter went with Jordan and wasn't quite as nervous. It was nice to leave 10 minutes before the fireworks were to start and get perfect seats. That doesn't happen in Idaho. Good thing it was just a few minutes from home, because much to my disappointment, my babies don't love fireworks nearly as much as I do. So we came home and I finished watching them out our window. Even though we missed our friends and family, it was a good holiday.

Our First New York Home

2007-06-25T21:50:00.000-07:00

The boys are adjusting to our first New York home (as Hunter calls it) pretty well. They love the playground, the pool, and hitting golf balls outside. It was super hot our first week here, so the boys rediscovered the joy of popsicles- multiple times a day.
We had our first weekend of garage sales and the boys found these horrible lawn mowers ( so very old, a little broken, and the new love of their lives). "Want to drive my mower outside" comes out of Hunter's mouth a thousand times a day. But they were only $0.50 each, and they keep the boys happy for hours, so I can't complain.

New York is so very different from Seattle. Drivers here aren't nearly as accomodating, but the sunshine is nice. We spent an afternoon at Lechworth State Park (the Grand Canyon of the East). The boys loved the waterfalls. Henry wasn't so certain about his new backpack ( another garage sale find that will soon find its way to Craig's List- Henry is too heavy), but it was worth a try.

It didn't take us too long to finda Strawberry U-Pick farm. The boys were great for about ten minutes, but then the lure to throw rocks over took the thrill of eating strawberries. Jordan and I picked like crazy while the boys threw rocks; we got a little carried away and came home with just over ten pounds of berries. Sure would be nice to have our Sandhurst Family to share with. We made a ton of jam, froze a ton of berries, ate until we were stuffed, and finished them out with a Strawberry pie.

Not too bad for our first couple of weeks. We are very excited to get to our "New New York Home" and finally unpack our stuff.

Journey across the Nation

2007-06-24T13:26:00.000-07:00

Our actual journey to NY was great. My parents took our boys to my brother's house in the Tri-Cities while we loaded our moving truck; It was much easier with out two little helpers. Thanks to all our friends who helped trek our stuff down the mountain to the trailer. After a night on the floor (literally- our air mattress popped as we were sleeping), we were off for Idaho. We picked up the boys in the Tri-Cities, stayed a night with our good friends the Kidmans in Boise, and then left our babies with Grandma and Grandpa Higham, and the rest of the family for a full week as Jordan and I drove to NY.

South Dakota was amazing. There were antelope everywhere, just hanging out along the roadside. The National Monuments were beautiful as well. We spent pretty much one whole day seeing Devil's Tower, Mount Rushmore, Crazy Horse, and the Badlands. I didn't know what the Badlands were, so my first view was shocking. Unbelievably beautiful and unlike anything I'd ever seen before.

There really wasn't too much to see from SD on out, but we were able to stay with two sets of our friends from UnderGrad; The Godfrey family in Rochester, MN and the Murdock family in Cleveland, OH. It was great to see friends and how their families have grown. It also helped that each family was somewhat near other fun stops we planned- the Mall of America in Minnesota and the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio. Mostly, it was great to travel without two babies and spend time together as adults, not parents.

New York is good, we greatful to be here and we're excited to begin this new phase of our lives. We look forward to meeting new friends and having family visit us in this land so rich with Church History.