Gen Con

 It was General Conference this weekend. Gen Con as Doug likes to say. I love listening to General Conference. I crocheted a little stuffed animal for this Refugee toy donation that I'm contributing to. This is going to be a lion.

We went out and bought Jack his white shirt and he got to go to his first preisthood session. He and mas are trying to make themselves as tall as possible here.

Doug had enough.

We also made a delicious Carrot cake. It was the cake my mom had at her birthday party this week and I just had to try it. YUM!

Over and out!

Jack turns TWELVE!

Hello there! We had a Sunday birthday celebration today. Jack turned 12! We can't slow down the clock here just trying to enjoy these fun moments and milestones. He set his alarm to wake up at 6:22 this morning (his birth time) so he could play his car racing video game.  I woke up early to wish him happy birthday and see if he would really wake up.  I walked up the stairs and he was already sitting up in his bed. He stayed up and I went back to bed until it was time to open presents

Traditional Breakfast crepes. He likes chocolate pudding and strawberries inside.

We went to church where he was ordained to be a Deacon. He gets to pass the sacrament next week, which means he has to wear a white shirt and tie. He hasn't worn a white shirt or tie for YEARS. He spent the afternoon playing with his new toys, lego, remote control cars, and the game Clue. Then had a Barbecue Chicken Skewer birthday dinner followed by a yummy chocolate cake. Our neighborhood pals came over for a little cake and ice cream.

Doug also entertained us with a little magic trick.

Jack is just the nicest kid and we are so happy to have him in his family. He has the funniest laugh and can crack a clever joke on the fly. We love you Jack, Happy Birthday!

Happy Easter

Mer's Surgery

I am a Cowboy!

Spring Break

We had a staycation Spring Break this year. Mer had just hurt her knee and was on crutches so we stuck close to home and made the best of it. Day 1: We went to the beach

Day 2: We had a worker installing a new tv system so we stayed home and swam mostly. Mer and Max ran an errand for me in the afternoon and came home with a DOG. Surprise! It was a stray. They had quite an adventure chasing him down. Max apparently sprinted about a mile to catch him. They thought they were helping someone catch their dog but by the time they caught him there was no one left to take the dog home. So they brought him to our house, washed him up, bandaged his foot, named him Logic, and called around to figure out what to do with him. They ended up taking him to pet smart and found that he had an ID chip, so they were able to find the owners pretty quickly. When it was all said and done they were all a bit sad that didnt' get to keep him or get a reward for finding him.

Day 3: we met our friend Emma at the zoo. Tommy tried out the water area for the first time. Luke was the best entertainment

That night we went camping at Jonathon Dickinson State Park. We set up the tent, cooked our dinner, ate smores and played Monopoly Deal a bit too loudly.

 Day 4: We brought the boat and our bikes with us camping. Doug and max went out fishing on the boat and the boys and I rode around a lot. Mer tended the camp and played with Tom. It was a fun relaxing time.

Mer and I left the camp a little early so we could make it to Mer's knee doctor appt. Sadly the dr confirmed that it was a complete ACL tear and that she would need to have surgery if she wanted to ever play sports again. It will take about 9 months for a complete recovery. She is pretty bummed about the whole thing.

Day 5: Friday Doug decided to get everyone up to watch the sunrise. It was beautiful. We thought we were going to miss it with all the clouds on the horizon. It is such a treat to live by the beach.

Then we got our favorite muffins on the way home.

All in all we had a great week. Happy Spring!

April This and That

I've decided that if I don't try a little harder to keep up this blog I'll totally regret it. 

Mer's in Surgery right now. She tore her ACL last month in her last Lacrosse game of the season and is getting it repaired today. I'm in the unusual position of having nothing to do while I wait for her to come out so I thought I'd share some random photos from the last couple of months. 

These boys and their Lego love are cute. They are collecting as many large Star Wars Lego sets that they can. They have big dreams people. These are the latest additions to the collection.

Tommy is cute. He is growing and growing. He loves playing with stuffed animals right now. His favorites  right now are Cookie Monster, Daniel Tiger, Nemo and Dory, and Andy.

He LOVES the zoo. He asks me to take him there on a weekly basis. This was a trip we tool with our friend Ryan one day.

Doug went to LA for a conference in March. He brought us fancy treats from Bottega Louis.

Tom also loves to go to the park and feed the fish. I think I took this picture to show that sweat is just as good as hair gel.

PROM (mormon prom) was also in April. It happened to be the weekend after Mer hurt her knee. She almost didn't go but in the end decided to. She didn't get to dance but I think she had fun with Ryan anyway

 
 
And Jack's hair is long enough for Mer to french braid. He let her braid it just this once. She came to show me saying "Mom. I got a new sister"