Daxton's Birthday

Friday was Daxton's second birthday. We all met at "Daxton's Place" at 7:30 for a pajama party. They were going to do the big unveiling of the headstone, but unfortunately they didn't get it done in time so that will be in about a week. The place doing the headstone felt really bad so they made a nice granite stone for Matt and Michelle in honor of Daxton which I thought was great of them. My boys made some birthday cards for Daxton that we put by his headstone (they were really cute, but I didn't think to take a picture of them). We all wrote messages to Daxton and tied them to balloons and then released them at the same time, it was really neat to see! My boys were not happy that we let go of the balloons, but I think Daxton would have loved it! Then we did a halo toast, it's where you all get donuts and do a toast with them. It was really neat and really hard! The tension was broken up pretty quick by the sprinklers turning on which we were all sure that Daxton probably had something to do with it! It turned out really well and we are all so grateful for all of the love and support everyone has shown to our family and Matt and Michelle.

Here are some of the people who were able to come and were great to come and show their love and support. Thank you!


Neal, Austin, and Zack missing their bud. We love you so much Dax!


The balloon release.

Cherry Hill

I'm a little late doing this post, but I have not been in a blogging or just computer mood in general lately. So all of you who's emails I haven't responded to I'm going to get around to it soon and sorry for slacking.

Last Wednesday my mom had her work party at Cherry Hill so she invited all of us girls and we had a fun girl's day out plus my boys. (We missed you Mandy, Neal, and Henry!) I haven't been to Cherry Hill in ages, but it was a lot of fun and they have the new UV filters so it makes my crazy brain rest a little easier (no Crypto here!). I think the boys were still a little too young to fully appreciate the fun we were having, but at least I tried. We decided to try their life jackets on them for the lazy river; it's the first time they've ever worn them and they were less than impressed, but it made a good photo op.


They thought the Pirate's Cove was okay once we took their life jackets off. They especially liked the slides that you get to go on in to the water and Austin liked the spraying water. By the time we had lunch they were pretty tired and enjoyed lounging together.



I was wishing I could have got some cute swimming pictures, but with my history I probably would've dropped it in the water. By the time we left Austin and Zack were asleep almost the minute they were put in the car and were limp dolls when we got home and I put them in their cribs. Thanks for the fun girls!

Memories

I don't want to be left out of the fun memory game so I'm conforming, here goes.
Here is a fun little game... leave a comment on my blog of a memory that you and I have had together. It doesn't matter if you've known me for a short time or a long time, anything that you remember! Next, re-post these instructions on your blog and see how many people leave a memory about you. It is pretty funny to read the responses. If you leave a memory about me, I'll assume you are playing and I'll come to your blog and leave one about you. On your mark... get set... blog those memories!

18 Month Pictures

We had some new pictures taken of the boys and I thought I'd share them. Sorry but they are scanned in images so they aren't the best but you'll get the idea.

My Awesome Wife

I just wanted to say how proud I am of Heidi. She has had a goal to run a 10k for a while and has been training hard to be able to do so even though sickness, two little monkeys and one big ape have gotten in the way a bit. But today she ran the Farmington 10k in just over 59 minutes which is impressive to me! I am tired after 59 seconds. Great job honey!

4th of July

We had a great fourth of July, it all started with me running the Cherry Days 5k with Katie. The race went okay, the course was a lot of uphill and I have been sick, but thanks to Katie (she kept me going faster than I would have run if I was by myself) our official finish time was 29:26 (although my Nike Plus said 29:01). Now I'm just trying to figure out a way to get her to move by me instead of going back to New York, I would love a running friend!


Then we went to the parade with Aaron's brother's family. Their kids were so cute and kept bringing us and the boys candy, they were very good to share.


All Austin wanted to do was kick, step on, or throw the candy. He could've cared less about picking it up.


Zack just wanted to sit on our laps, he refused to pick up the candy. Oh well, maybe next year.


Then we all went back to my parent's and had some yummy Pizza Man for lunch and went swimming. It was so fun to play with our nieces and nephew and Zack and Austin loved the water!

No, Aaron doesn't have a new wife (at least I don't think so), I just needed a big change to get out of frumpy mode.



Then we all had much needed naps and that evening we went to my aunt and uncle's for croquet and to watch the fireworks from Weber High. The boys loved the fireworks, even though Zack was so tired he almost fell asleep during them and Austin was hyped up on sugar and kept oohing and aahing. We hope everyone had a Happy Fourth as well!

A couple more cute pictures:
Austin found a new way to eat, who needs hands or silverware?

Fun with friends

I know you will all be shocked to hear, but after our first week of going to nursery me, Austin, and Zack have all been sick. So because we didn't want to get baby Henry sick we weren't able to go to the barbecue and swimming party at my parent's last Saturday for Founder's Day so we bought the boys a swimming pool. They have loved it! It's nice because they can get in and out of it themselves and it was great entertainment while we were doing some yard work (one of us was watching them the whole time, they weren't swimming unattended).


Some of our best friends Ryan, Katie, and Josh are here visiting from New York so we had them over for dinner and swimming on Monday. It's been so great to see them again and to see Josh and our boys interact. We are so sad they are going back on Saturday!

Austin and Josh both really wanted to play with the hose, they weren't very sure of each other (I'm sure Austin was thinking oh great another kid to steal my toys).


I think they had fun despite the constant fight over balls.


Don't they look like they are conspiring to do something? Josh was pretty funny at first acting like wow I've never been in here with other kids. Although he was being a bad example to our boys getting them to stand in the tub, we'll still let him play with our kids. :)


Last night we went to Kayla and Brandon's house for a fun little party with our friends. It was so great to get together and just talk and see all of our cute kids together. We know we are very blessed to have such great high school friends and we're glad that most of us have stayed in touch. We love you guys and we missed those of you who weren't able to come!

Zack Walking!

I'm a little behind in my posts, but Zack started taking a couple of steps in between me and Aaron on Sunday and since then he thinks he's pretty cool when he walks. This video is from this morning.

Funny Guys

Zack loves to pick up the phone and say "Hi! Hi!" especially when Mom calls from work. Unfortunately the big shiny button on the phone is the talk button and the end button is the little non-interesting black button.

Whenever we put lotion on Austin he wipes it off his belly and rubs it in his hair but tonight I was able to stop him. Unfortunately, I forgot to close the lid on the lotion and I caught him getting the little bit of lotion inside the lid and wiping it in his hair. Doesn't he look proud of his greased hair?

18 Months

I can't believe my sweet babies are 18 months old now. The time has gone by way to fast!! We are loving the stage they are at right now. They are doing so many fun things and their personalities are really starting to come out now. Some of their accomplishments:

• they just got to move in to forward facing car seats on Memorial Day weekend
  
• Zack has 12 teeth and is getting 4 more
  
• Austin has 12 teeth and is getting 4 more
• they love brushing their teeth
  
• they both love to pick up the phone and they hold it to their ear and say hi
  
• they love to use combs or brushes to do their hair
  
• about a month ago they decided we weren't allowed to feed them anymore so meal time is always fun now!
• they love to play hide n seek with each other and chase each around, giggling the whole time
  
• they are totally caught up in every area except gross motor, but they are ahead in their language
  
• Zack has turned in to a bit of a comedian and loves to pull faces and make funny noises
  
• Austin is very good at giving loves and is always hugging or kissing Zack, me, or Aaron
  
• they are both still mommy boys
  
• they get very excited when daddy gets home from work
  
• they love to play catch and play with balls
  
• they love to look out the windows and especially to stand in our window seat in the front room
  
• they love being outside
  
• they are mommy's running partners
  
• Austin loves water no matter what the temperature is
  
• Zack is left handed so far and Austin is right (we are pretty sure they are mirror twins)
  
• they both love to cuddle
  
• they can say juice, snack, cracker, mom, dad, boo, hi, bye, no, yes, uh oh spaghetti-o, dog, woof woof, shoes, tickle, nose, eye, ball, quack, stinky, and banana
  
• they love to imitate anything mom or dad do
  
• they blow on their food
  
• they can be really good eaters and together they can eat as much as me
  
• they love each other and if they are in different rooms they will start yelling back and forth to locate each other
  
• they are partners in crime and encourage each other to get in to trouble
  
• they follow each other everywhere
  
• when I go to get them in the morning and after naps they jump and dance in their cribs because they are so excited
  
• they love dogs and they have started calling every animal a dog, when they see one their voices raise several octaves and they start screaming with excitement
  
• they love to wrestle with each other
  

I could go on and on, we are so proud of our boys and how far they have come. They are the light of our lives and we don't know what we would ever do without them! We are so grateful for their health and appreciate every day with them. We love you Zack and Austin!!!

A couple of weeks ago Austin figured out if he pushed things like his car or the laundry basket over to things then he could climb up on the couch or window seat. He's pretty proud of himself.

One of Zack's funny faces.


The boys loved the massage chair at my parent's. Their faces were hilarious, I'm sure what mine looks like during a massage or pedicure.

Swimming at our neighbors Summer Kickoff Party. The water was freezing, but it didn't phase Austin at all, Zack had fun once he warmed up to it.

We've been doing some repairs on our shower/bath so we've had to be creative with the boy's bathtime. They thought this was the coolest thing ever! They were inconsolable when we took them out and out kitchen was drenched!

We had fun playing outside today.

UPDATE: Life Lesons

For the common good of the readers of this blog, I need to make a public service announcement. Water, milk, olive oil, rubbing alcohol, vinegar, aloe, and ice are not to effective but milk was the best option of these, especially for burning up the nose (possible pictures to follow). Luckily, I was able to find this picture on the internet showing the best solution for the dreaded jalapeño burn (never mind that the couch the subject is sitting on looks strikingly similar to ours). What you are seeing below are two hands covered in full fat mayonnaise (no low fat stuff) and encapsulated in Ziploc bags. This should be done for about an hour to relieve burning.
And so you know, the Utah Poison Control number is 1-800-222-1222. For best results call immediately and not 5 hours later.

Life Lessons

Important lesson learned tonight- NEVER cut jalapeño peppers without gloves! If you do cut them without gloves never proceed to rub your face or your eyes!!! If you still want to learn the hard way immediately after you do it and the burn starts run for the milk pour it all over the body part burning, never scrub with soap and water. Don't learn the hard way!

Austin Walking!

Austin and Zack have been walking with us for months now, but usually don't even want to try to walk unless they are holding on to our hands. Last Wednesday we were just playing around and Austin all of a sudden took two steps, but after that he would just dive to us and wouldn't even stand long enough to try to walk and then tonight he all of a sudden just took off. He thought all of the attention was great! Zack can stand for like two minutes, he's so funny because he will just stand in place and look around and laugh. They are so cute!

Nestle Family Fun Run

We all woke up bright and early this morning and went and ran the Nestle Family Fun Run 5k. It was a lot of fun despite it only being in the 40s and raining. After one day of training Aaron finished in 29:34 and me and the boys finished in 31:28. I was a little disappointed in my time because I have been finishing in under 30 minutes in my training, but we were near the back of the start and it was probably almost 1/2 mile before I was able to really start running because of so many walkers and slow people in front of me so that was really frustrating. I was glad that I felt good the whole run though because I pulled the ligaments in the back of my knee on Monday so hopefully the next time around my time will be better. My uncle Mark and aunt Cheri and their kids came and ran with us and we had a great morning being able to spend time with them and some of my favorite cousins!

Henry Craig Curtis

Steve and Mandy welcomed a new baby boy in to their family yesterday. His name is Henry Craig Curtis and he came in weighing 7 lbs. 12 oz. and he was 20 1/4 inches. His big brother Neal was very excited to see him and couldn't help giving him lots of loves. Congratulations you guys we are so excited for you and for Henry joining our family!!


The cute family!


Steve with his boys

Websites I like

I've found a couple of new websites lately that I love and thought I would pass them on.

First is http://www.calorie-count.com/, you can go and enter everything you've been eating during the day and it tells you how many calories the different foods are and it keeps track of how many calories you're at for the day. I'm not good at counting calories on things because it's too much effort to me, but this is nice because since you have to write down everything you've eaten it makes you realize what you're putting in to your mouth and it makes you aware of how many calories things are and how fast they add up. It also will calculate how many calories you're burning, you wouldn't believe the different activities they have listed. You also can find out different exercise routines and workouts. I could go on and on, I love this website! I have lost two pounds in less than a week and I even went out to eat at Olive Garden (thanks for the fun afternoon SG's, we missed those of you that weren't able to come!)!

Second, is a blog I stumbled across that is a guy who does children's art work. I have been looking for pictures for my boy's room since before they were born and I finally found some. He draws the cutest pictures. His blog is http://falldowntree.blogspot.com and he's also from Farmington as well. These are the pictures I got for my boy's room, they are great quality!

Memorial Day

Memorial Day has always been a day that we have gone to the graves with my family and then gone to the park to play, but this year it has become very different. It hasn't become any easier since Daxton died, but we have all learned a lot and are hopefully becoming better friends, parents, siblings, and kids because of him and all he taught us. After going to the graves Sunday we went to a park and had a nice picnic and then had fun playing on the playground and playing sand volleyball. On Monday we visited graves again and then had a party with my dad's family. We are very grateful for our family!



Aunt Mandy holding the four boys (number 4 makes his debut next Thursday!).
The boys had a great time climbing the tree.

Card Work-out

I found this work-out on the internet that I like to do on days like today that are windy and rainy and I can't go running with the boys. It's also nice for vacation or somewhere you might be staying that you can't go to a gym or don't want to because all you need is a deck of cards.

Here is the way it works:
Draw 5 cards.
Add up the numbers on the cards.
Do that many jumping jacks, crunches and push-ups.
Rest for that many seconds.
Draw 5 more cards.
Repeat the process until you work through the whole deck.

Caution: You may not be able to do your hair or lift your kids for a couple of days after. Do at your own risk.

Let me know if any of you try this and what you think. I also didn't think it sounded that bad when I first heard it, but you will be amazed at how good it works you!

Pool Cleaning

Yesterday we had our annual pool cleaning at my parent's. We start off by draining the whole pool and then scrub it clean.


Then the fun begins! As the pool is refilling with water we have our own water slide or dancing for some that prefer that. :) I had planned on bringing swimsuits for the boys, but Aaron talked me out of it because he said the boys wouldn't want to get into it and it would be too cold for them. Last time I listen to him, they had a blast! :)


The clothes came off soon after this because they were getting soaked.



Austin was so funny he would just crawl all over and wasn't at all fazed by the coldness. Zack loved it, just not quite as much.


Cousin Neal wasn't a fan like my boys were, but isn't he cute! He was excited because they he had just splashed Zack.


There is a reason why they have swim diapers! Austin's just fell off because it was so heavy. Here is Zack's after exploding all over Grandpa.


While we were sliding and having a blast Grandpa and Grandma were entertaining the boys and took them for wagon rides all over the yard. Even though they might not look like they are having fun they loved it. I didn't get any pictures of the sliding because I was having too much fun!